5 Tips To Optimise Your Mobile Gaming

Mark Stephens

Whether you are new to the joys of electronic gaming or have migrated over from portable consoles to mobile handset or tablet gaming, there are a number of ways you can make the whole experience more enjoyable.

With people spending more and more time playing games on their phones and tablets, device manufacturers are rapidly perfecting their art; smart phones are becoming …well….smarter!

But they also have limitations when it comes to the type of game-playing some people enjoy, so below we show you how to improve your entire gaming experience.

Go Social

There is a growing trend to share your gaming experiences with friends and contacts, so that you can have challenges, compare performances, compete in team games and so on.

Services like Game Center and OpenFeint allow iOS and Android gamers to make the most of the same type of online communities that helped boost the popularity of video consoles.

It’s also possible to network and expand your horizons by making new contacts. Once you have reached a decent level with a game and you can feature on leader boards then find other players of a similar score and invite them for a challenge.

You’ll find that the gaming experience goes up a notch when you have some competition other than your own personal best score.

Watch the Battery Usage

You can adjust the settings on your iPhone or iPad to maximise the battery life and therefore extend game time when you are away from your computer.

From the Settings area, look for the option for “Brightness” and lower it as far as you can without it spoiling the game.

Also, many games need the full power of your device so make sure there are no apps running in the background and using power unnecessarily, before you start your game.

Accessorise the Game Controls

There are many great accessories that can connect to your phone or tablet these days to provide an external control pad for games; this saves the need to use the touchscreen controls which can be difficult to get to grips with for some games, especially for people used to the traditional buttons or joystick approach.

These accessories may be Bluetooth gamepads; others like the iCade or the Fling Joystick add real controls to your device.

Accessorise the Sound

Apple devices have the built-in ability to produce great sound, despite the fact that the standard equipment you get with them sometimes isn’t that wonderful.

Depending on the game you’re playing, it may be vastly improved by grabbing a set of quality headphones rather than use the ear-buds provided – it will be better for your music listening too, so you are killing two (Angry?) birds with one stone!

Some games are really designed for the sound to add tension and atmosphere, so it shouldn’t be considered as just an add-on; it can be integral to the gaming experience, just like music can be integral to a great movie.

Manage The Internet Connection

Using the 3G data connectivity when it’s not needed not only wastes more battery but can also add expense to the data plan you are on with your network.

Switch it off when it’s not required – you can still play the game in offline mode and keep your scores locally rather than using OpenFeint.

Hopefully the above tips help you to take your game enjoyment levels up a level or two. Let us know in the comments section below if you have any more tips for improving the mobile gaming experience.